This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-96671, filed Mar. 29, 2001, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a medical diagnostic apparatus, such as an ultrasonic apparatus or X-ray CT apparatus, having a function for preventing failure to perform all required scanning or measurements due to oversight, hereinafter called oversight omissions.
Many ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses, in addition to obtaining and displaying an ultrasonic image of an object, employ an application program for measurements of a structural dimension such as the distance, area, volume, etc. from a B-mode image, and for measurements of a temporal variation amount from a M-mode image. An input of a direction related to such measurements with the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus may be performed with a TCS (Touch Command Screen). Items to be measured are displayed on the TCS in a table-like form. An operator, such as a medical doctor, can input directions to the apparatus by touching on the screen a position where a desired measurement item is located. Some X-ray CT apparatuses also employ such a TCS because of its good operability, e.g. only a touch on a screen completes a desired input and items to be measured are displayed in a table-like form.
In a conventional apparatus with a TCS, to prevent oversight of omissions, items to be measured or scanned are displayed in a predetermined area on the TCS and measured values or calculated values are displayed in a window on a CRT display in a position corresponding to that on the TCS. The oversight may be prevented by the operator checking whether the measured or calculated values are displayed on the CRT display. Commonly owned U.S. Ser. No. 09/644,861 is also of interest in this regard and is incorporated by reference herein.
However, the above-mentioned function for oversight omission prevention has the following drawbacks. First, the measurement window should be displayed in the limited area on the monitor so as not to interfere with an image and a measurement marker also displayed thereon. This requires an operator to check oversights of measurement or calculation items with high attentiveness and it may also be time consuming.
Second, items with similar names are displayed in a small area. This may lead to operator misrecognition, resulting in an incomplete procedure, often in shortened form.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a medical diagnostic apparatus, such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, capable of performing various measurements or scans of a subject, including a measuring unit configured to measure data of the subject based on a scanned image, a monitor which displays the data and the image, an input device configured to input information of the subject and an interface such as a touch command screen (TCS) for selecting measurement items. When an operator selects a switch for a desired measurement item displayed on the TCS in a first form, the measuring unit measures the selected item. When the measurement is finished, the switch is displayed in a second form different from the first form.